Fable reboot closes out Xbox Games Showcase with cinematic teaser

Fable is one of the biggest games Microsoft showed off at its Xbox Games Showcase today. Developer Playground Games is rebooting the franchise with its own take on the series. Playground is best known for the Forza Horizon games, and now it’s getting a chance to build an open-world adventure.

This is a major step for the studio, but it also marks Microsoft’s return to large, narrative role-playing adventures. Like all Xbox Games Studios releases, Microsoft is launching Fable on Xbox Game Pass.

This is a return to one of Microsoft’s classic franchises. Fable was an early standout among first-party Microsoft releases on Xbox when it debuted in 2004. Developer Lionhead Studios then created a number of followups.

This Fable seems like it is aiming to keep the British tone of the original. The teaser starts with a magical fairy creature and an ethereal voiceover. But then a toad eats the fairy, and the voice says, “Not every story has a happy ending.” It’s clearly still going for the irreverent take that the early games were known for.